Hermitage, PA

U.S. Army – Vietnam

When 1st Lt. Paul J. Hess, Jr., was deployed to Vietnam on September 14, 1966, he was assigned to very hazardous duty. As a Special Forces officer in the Central Highlands, he worked with a Civilian Irregular Defense Group – a counterinsurgency operation in which U.S. Special Forces worked with Vietnamese villagers to defend villages and conduct combat operations. His character and personal commitment was evident when he started a boy scout troop among the tribes that surrounded his base camp.

Despite the demands of his daily military duties, Lt. Hess remembered the folks back home. He sent a flag from Vietnam to the Shenango Valley Veteran’s Day Parade Committee.

On Veteran’s Day, November 11, 1966, the day the flag was used in the parade, Lt. Hess was killed in combat.

Descriptions of specific incidents in the Vietnam War are hard to find, but the web site of the 174th Assault Helicopter Company presents a detailed report of Lt. Hess’s last mission. According to Lt. Col. Marty Heuer, who served in 174th AHC, Lt. Hess was an observer on a helicopter gunship in support of a 25th Infantry Division operation against an enemy stronghold west or Pleiku, near the Cambodian border.

The rectangular landing zone was about two-thirds the size of a football field, mostly level, covered with three- to five-feet tall elephant grass, with two trees in the center. It was surrounded by triple-canopy jungle with 150-feet tall trees – perfect cover and concealment for the enemy.

Unfortunately, the LZ was beyond the range of any supporting artillery. The operation commander decided to continue with just the firepower provided by a dozen helicopter gunships in support of the troop-carrying “slicks” – UH1-B helicopters lacking weapons pods, with firepower provided only by door gunners operating 50-caliber machine guns.

Lt. Hess was aboard one of the gunships as an observer and possibly door gunner. As the helicopter was making a gunrun at low level, it was hit by small arms and/or 50-caliber machine gun fire. It exploded and crashed into the jungle in a ball of fire.

When examined later, the gunship was found to have been perforated with 99 holes from small arms fire.

Paul was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul J. Hess, Sr. He also left behind his wife, nee Donna Saibene; daughter Kimberly Ruth; three sisters and two brothers.

Paul W. Bush

Greenville, PA

U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam

When First Lieutenant Paul W. Bush of Greenville arrived in Vietnam during April, 1967, he was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines at Khe Sanh, just south of the border with North Vietnam.

Because the Command Chronologies of the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines have been published, we can read detailed accounts of what occurred during that entire time period. Take, for example, 22 March 1968. It lists 74 items for that one day, ranging from hundreds of rounds of incoming rockets, artillery, and mortar fire, to the filling of 50 sandbags.

For the friends and family of First Lieutenant Paul W. Bush, including his new wife Patty, the only item that matters is item 68: the direct hit on C Company’s command post. The after-action report tells that the it killed three Marines. One of them was Lt. Bush. Another hit in the second platoon area killed two more Marines.

“He was a really bright guy,” said his brother, James Busch. “He graduated from Thiel in 1966 magna cum laude. He joined the Marines because he knew he was going to be drafted.”

Dennis Keith Millison

Sharon, PA

U.S. Marine Corps – Vietnam

What was it like to be a rifleman in a Marine company on night operations in Vietnam? At times, utterly confusing, terrifying – and sometimes fatal. That’s what PFC Dennis Keith Millison experienced on February 26, 1969. He was on a search and destroy mission with his unit – Company L, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines.

The report in the newspaper said that he “died Friday of fragmentary wounds suffered when an enemy mine exploded in Quang Tri Province, near the demilitarized zone.” That gives no sense of what really happened

We can get a slight, distant glimpse of what it was like by reading declassified official handwritten reports made by a commander during that night’s battle. These are not after-action reports written in the comfort of a base camp, but notes made during and immediately after the fighting. It’s difficult to read because the handwriting is understandably scribbly, and it’s filled with esoteric abbreviations. But here’s a sampling:

“Sudden tremendous amount of incoming 82 mm, RPG, satchel charges with main thrust of pull from north east finger. All maj bunkers were hit with first barrage. (CO, P, FDC, 81’s and arty plt cps). During hand to hand combat outside CP E-6 gained pomm with 2/4 who beyad supporting arty fire right on posit. in wire. Satchel charges, [other explosions] going off throughout inside perimeter. From this point on it was every man for himself. 0700 h medevac bird attempted to reach FSB Russell. From daylight to 1030h gained cas. count getting status of sit. found 25 en KIA conf. inside wire, will not be able to check outside perimeter.”

Sometime during that conflict, PFC Millison risked his life to pull a wounded friend out of harm’s way. When returning to the battle, he apparently triggered an explosive device. Records indicate that only six other Marines of the 3rd Division were killed that day.

PFC Millison was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Keith Millison of Sharon. After graduating from Sharon High School, he worked at GATX for over two years. When he received his draft notice, he chose to enlist in the Marine Corps.

He was survived by his parents, a daughter Melinda Denise, a brother Gary L., and grandmothers Mrs. Helen Harshman and Mrs. Elzetta Millison.

PFC Richard L. McNeish

Mercer, PA

U.S. Marine Corps – Vietnam

A sense of irony and humor was vital to U.S. military personnel in Vietnam. They would often take names of places they knew back home and apply them to areas in Vietnam where they served.

Happy Valley, as every Penn State fan knows very well, is the home of Penn State’s main campus in State College, PA. In Vietnam, Happy Valley was not a happy place, either for U.S. or enemy soldiers. The area was covered by thick undergrowth and elephant grass that grew as tall as ten feet. That, of course, made combat operations extremely difficult and dangerous – and made it a great place for a major Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army base camp.

It was better than great, because it was a perfect place to infiltrate men and materials for operations around Da Nang, its port facilities, and Logistics Command. From the surrounding hills, within 12 km of the city and its military operations, the enemy could fire rockets and other weapons effectively.

Defense of the area was partially the responsibility of the 1st Battalion 7th Marine Regiment. PFC Richard L. McNeish was assigned to Company B of that battalion after arriving in Vietnam on September 20, 1967. Barely more than a month later, on October 24, he went out on patrol with his unit. He was killed by an enemy explosive device.

PFC McNeish was the son of Kermith and Clara McNeish. He had enlisted in the Marine Corps during April, 1967.

PFC McNeish was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Vietnam Service Medal

Murphy, Ralph Oliver III

Grove City, PA

U.S. Army – Vietnam

During the Vietnam War, the United States military fought a limited war against an enemy who was fighting an all-out war. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army could cross the international borders with impunity, attacking the U.S. forces in Vietnam from bases in Cambodia and Laos, while our military was prohibited from attacking those bases – at least technically, and at least at first.

“It was well known that this area in Cambodia was a NVA sanctuary with vast amounts of stores and bases. The routes they used were known by us as “Adams Trail” and “The Serges Jungle Highway.” One of our responsibilities was to interfere with these as much as possible. The idea was going in with boots on the ground to destroy as much of it as possible to help cover our withdrawal. The anti-war faction had a field day — turning it into a major invasion of another country. It was 99% wilderness as shown and a lot was accomplished. SOG [Studies and Observations Group] had spent a lot of time and effort scouting out that area. . . . My camp was just south and east of the border and we were on the receiving end of a lot of the stuff stored there. It was often safer to be out on recon than in camp.”

Ralph Oliver Murphy III was with them in Cambodia when he died from multiple fragmentation wounds.

Kevin Scanlon, a fellow soldier, wrote on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial web site: “I trained with Ralph @ Ft. Jackson, SC & went to Nam with him in ’70. I didn’t know Ralph real well but was sad to hear when I returned home from Nam & Cambodia that he did not. He was a quiet but very good soldier as I remember in AIT [Advanced Individual Training]. . . . I think about you guys all the time! God Bless you Ralph, you are a Hero.”

Ralph was a 1966 graduate of Grove City High School. He was the first person from Mercer County to be killed in Cambodia.

Raymond Lee McGarvey

Transfer, PA

U.S Army – Vietnam

As the name implies, search and destroy missions were designed to locate and eliminate enemy forces. That didn’t work so well when half a platoon of American infantry located a well-rested North Vietnamese Army battalion fresh out of Cambodia.

That’s what happened on July 3, 1966, to Raymond Lee McGarvey near Pleiku in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. First thing in the morning, his platoon was split in two. Half of them went west toward Cambodia, the other half in another direction. The half that went west stumbled upon an empty enemy base camp. They checked it out, and determined that it was for a battalion-size unit. They decided to get out of there fast, but before they could get very far, they ran into an ambush.

Far outnumbered, they were the ones who were destroyed. Out of the 22 who had started out that morning, 15 lay dead and another four seriously wounded.

During that battle, Raymond McGarvey went out in a blaze of glory. His Bronze Star citation describes his heroic actions:

“On this date Private First Class McGarvey was serving as a rifleman in the 3rd Platoon, B, 1/35th Infantry which was on a search and destroy mission. His unit was ambushed by at least a reinforced North Vietnamese company; coming under intense fire and surrounded. Moving to a forward position, Private First Class McGarvey brought fire on the enemy inflicting many casualties. Seeing an enemy machine gun that was delivering particularly effective fire on his comrades, he moved to a better position in an effort to silence it. He continued his advance until within twenty meters of the bunker and then single-handedly charged the fortified machinegun position. In this act of great valor Private First Class McGarvey lost his life to enemy machine gun fire. His courage was an inspiration to all who saw it and strengthened the determination of his comrades to resist, despite the heavy odds they faced that day.”

Neal, Reuben James

Wheatland, PA

U.S. Marine Corps – Vietnam

In the spring of 1966, the North Vietnamese Army started inserting large forces into Quang Tri Province, just south of the border with North Vietnam. Units of the Marine Corps were moved into the province to deal with this problem. But the defensive strategy included the installation of artillery bases to establish interlocking bands of artillery fire. The base that held it all together was called Camp Carroll, about 13 miles northeast of Khe Sanh. To minimize the loss of American troops, the American military fired more than seven million tons of shells on targets in Vietnam.

In May, 1967, the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines of the 3rd Marine Division was tasked with defending Camp Carroll. Command Chronologies of that battalion indicate they didn’t just dig foxholes and wait for enemy attacks. They continually conducted patrols and unilateral offensive actions throughout their assigned sector.

Corporal Reuben James Neal from Wheatland was assigned to L Company of the 3/9 Marines. It was rugged, dangerous duty. With Army as well as Marine units operating in the same area, failures in communication sometimes ended in disaster. The Command Chronology for May 16, 1967, includes this entry: “Company L and Battalion Command Group YD 129657 was taken under fire by Army security units with convoy moving down Route 556. Received small arms and .50 caliber fire. Army was reconing area by fire which resulted in one USMC KIA.”

That Marine was Corporal Reuben James Neal.

The son of Georgette Taylor of Wheatland, he had enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1958 after attending Farrell High School. He planned on making it a career.

“He was a tremendous athlete in football, track and field, low and high hurdle,” said Fred Jarrett, a high school friend. “He was a rugged guy, one of those people who stays on your mind.”

Farrell, PA

U.S. Marines, Vietnam

“I was in seventh grade and watched his funeral from a school window across the street from Our Lady of Fatima Church,” wrote Chip Krokoski. “His Honor Guard, dressed in their Blues, seemed impervious to the miserable weather that day. The conduct of those Marines that day instilled in me the desire to seek a military career.”

Krokoski did indeed become a career officer, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. He never lost his desire to know more about Cpl. Funelli. He finally got some answers many years later after posting a question on the Internet.

“Cpl Funelli was a machine gunner,” wrote fellow combatant Harry Faber. “His position was hit by sappers and the sand bags fell on top of him and he died that way. . . . A lot of positions were hit with satchel charges that night. My hootch was blown up , even what I was sleeping on! It was like Custer’s last stand!”

“I remember Cpl. Funelli quite well,” wrote Jon Bolton, a survivor of that 15 January attack. “He had a great sense of humor. He made us laugh a lot.”

Bolton’s account of that night seems slightly at odds with Faber’s. “I remember Funelli initially surviving for some time after being wounded. He was lying on the ground outside of his bunker. In fact, I remember the Corpsman standing over him as he begged for Morphine to ease his pain.”

The information on the virtualwall.org that Cpl. Funelli died of artillery, mortar, or rocket fire would support Bolton’s version. The bottom line is this: it really doesn’t matter. Such variations can be attributed to the intense confusion that always surrounds close combat.

This was the second time Cpl. Funelli had been hit with shrapnel. He had been evacuated to Japan in March, 1966, to recuperate from wounds to his legs. He returned to Vietnam in late September.

Cpl. Funelli was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Funelli, Sr., of Farrell. Richard Funelli Sr. served with the Marine Corps in World War II on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Cpl. Funelli enlisted in the Marine Corps two months after graduating from Farrell High School. He left behind his parents and a brother, Gerald, who was a ninth grader at Kennedy Christian High School at the time of Richard’s death.

Richard Bailey

Grove City, PA

Army Air Force

World War II

“A whole carload of us went up to Erie to join,” he said, “but I was the only one that went in. The rest of them all backed out.”

He never got home again until he was released from the service slightly more than four years later.

Dick was assigned to the 344th Service Squadron, 13th Air Force. They had a rough trip to the South Pacific.

“After going through Panama Canal, we dropped off supplies at Bora Bora. Going out the next morning we hit a reef, knocked a hole in the bottom of the ship, and bent the screw and the shaft. We vibrated the whole way to Noumea, New Caledonia.”

The 344th Service Squadron followed the U.S. military advances to maintain and repair combat aircraft.

“Every time they drove the Japs off an island, we’d move up. We had a prop shop, metal shop, welding shop, and paint shop. One time they brought a B-24 in on its belly because the wheels wouldn’t go down. We put a new walkway in it and bomb bay doors and had it flying again in two weeks.”

Less than ideal conditions sometimes seriously increased their workload.

“On Leyte, there were two airstrips. One was right along the ocean. They had to close it down because of the crosswinds. Guys were crashing all the time. So they built another strip up on top of a mountain. If they came in too short, they ran into the side of the mountain. If they went too long, they’d land down over the other side of the mountain.”

Although they were hit with Japanese attacks from time to time, Dick’s worst injury was the result of a motorcycle accident.

“A big truck and trailer had just refueled a B-24. It pulled right out in front of me and I hit him broadside. I got a fractured pelvis and a concussion.”

Before the war was over, all four of his brothers also served in the military. Dick’s brother John had entered the army about a year before him; he served in North Africa and Europe. His brothers Fonnie and Frederick also served in Europe. Fonnie was wounded and became a prisoner of war. James joined the Navy in 1945. He later served as a paratrooper in the Korean War and as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, where he died in action.

Jamestown, PA

U.S. Army – Vietnam

After arriving in Vietnam on January 1, 1969, Rodger McElhaney wrote a lot of letters home. He told them that his unit operated out of LZ Gator, a base of operations in Quang Ngai Province, near the coast of the South China Sea. A book by Tim O’Brien, a soldier who was in his company, describes the place: “LZ Gator was home to 700 or 800 American soldiers, mostly grunts. I remember a tar helipad, a mess hall, a medical station, mortar and artillery emplacements, two volleyball courts, numerous barracks and offices and supply depots and machine shops and entertainment clubs. Gator was our castle. Not safe, exactly, but far preferable to the bush. No land mines here. No paddies bubbling with machine-gun fire.”

Their company got back to the base once a month or so for three or four days to relax, blow off steam, take hot showers and eat warm meals. The rest of the time they spent out in the bush.

That’s where things were really rough. Once Rodger was pinned down for a whole night in one of those rice paddies bubbling with machine gun. While he was a radio operator, he had to carry not only the heavy radio, but also his rifle, 300 rounds of ammunition, and his chow. On one mission he walked 18 miles in three days carrying all that stuff. After a week or so fighting on Batangan Peninsula, he started going to church and wore a cross around his neck.

He probably got a morale boost at the end of May when his home-town friend, Charlie Reefer, was assigned to his company.

Rodger treasured the “care packages” he got from home. In one letter he thanked his mom for the cookies she had sent, and told her that it had rained hard right after they arrived. He says he ate them with a spoon. Rather than having cookies and cream, he had cookies and water.

His letters were filled with thoughts and dreams about what he would do when he came home. Before he went to Vietnam, he owned a Harley 350 motorcycle. His dream was to buy a bigger bike when he got back.

Unfortunately, that dream was to remain a dream forever. He was killed on July 16, 1969, the second of three men from the small community of Jamestown, PA, to die in Vietnam within a two-month period.